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https://www.gq.com/story/rip-anthony-bourdain
Anthony Bourdain Was the Most Interesting Man in the World
By Drew Magary
2 hours ago
An appreciation.
And yet here we are. Pick any superlative you want for him. He was, of course, an excellent chef. If you havent made his scrambled eggs, do yourself a favor and correct that. He was a wonderful writer and enormously popular public speaker. He presided over what was, in my mind, the best travel show in TV history (No Reservations and Parts Unknown shared a production company, a host, and a logline, so by all means consider them one and the same).
But his greatest accomplishment, of course, was his life itself. I mean, honestly, WHAT A GODDAMN LIFE, MAN! He lived a scant 61 years, but my god, were those years densely packed. Watching him trot around the globe week to week engendered only the warmest of envies. And, in death, Bourdain takes with him a collection of memories and experiences so immeasurable, and so vast, that they dwarf any book or TV episode he leaves behind.
It is that life, more than his work, that millions of people (myself included) seek to emulate: a life that is hungry, thirsty, curious, honest, compassionate, rowdy, horny, all of it. That life has almost certainly inspired the very hipsters that Bourdain himself openly derided, but thats a pretty minor complaint when you think about it. He was a man of true pleasurepleasure in food, pleasure in sex, pleasure in friendship, pleasure in loveand wanting that for yourself is a welcome sin.
I cannot know what drove Bourdain to allegedly take his own life. He was a recovering addict. He suffered from bouts of depression. He was heir in spirit to another author, Hunter S. Thompson, who also died by suicide. He spent what was almost certainly an unhealthy amount of time out on the road, alone. But I think Im gonna go ahead and leave those demons be, because no matter how or why Bourdain died, he embodied, at least on television, the way a person ought to live, a life where fame and avarice take a backseat to the feeding of your very soul.
And I dont think its an overstatement to say the world would be a better place, and can very much be a better place, if everyone followed his lead and took true joy in seeking out and understanding the unknown. That is the greatest and most wondrous indulgence of all. Raise a glass. Cook a pig. Hug a friend. We cannot have Anthony Bourdains life, but thanks to him I know damn well that all of us can still have fantastic lives of our own, and thats no small thing.
BigmanPigman
(51,640 posts)Trek4Truth
(515 posts)gilligan
(194 posts)jayschool2013
(2,313 posts)Time to bake.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)He didn't even want his life.
babylonsister
(171,102 posts)to travel and learn about new cultures. I would do that in a heartbeat if I had someone bankrolling me.
And I venture to say he was not well to do what he did.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Meaning Drew Magary.
My point being that we don't really know what a person's life is like from what we see on TV.
His life was so painful that he chose to end it.
I cannot imagine anyone wanting a life of such suicide-inducing agony.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,572 posts)So much this.
jb5150
(1,183 posts)the book deals, the awards, the money of course .... the decades of addiction and multiple failed marriages not so much.
struggle4progress
(118,379 posts)bdamomma
(63,931 posts)wonkwest
(463 posts)I've tried to emulate him. I travel when I can, see new places, try new things. He really was the most interesting person in the world.
And to realize that wasn't enough. To do all he did, but still succumb to depression. It takes the breath out of you.
Celebrity deaths don't get to me, but this one does. Actually taking a half day because I'm that upset about it. He was so aspirational. I can't even fathom that he did so much and still had that kind of despair.
locks
(2,012 posts)You said it better than I ever could. How fortunate we are to have lived in a time with people like Anthony Bourdain, who brought us so much joy and hope that the world can be a better place. Real people who knew their own faults but kept their humility as they learned about and listened to people around the world without judgment. I feel as if I have lost a very good friend and true hero.